Millions sought to update Palace Theater in Danbury

Robert Miller, Staff Writer

Published 8:16 pm, Wednesday, December 29, 2010

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About the Palace Theater
Opened on Main Street in 1928. In its heyday, it had a full pipe organ, a nine-piece orchestra and two grand pianos.
Originally featured a mix of films and live entertainment. Headliners included Louis Armstrong, Liberace and Jimmy Durante.
In the 1950s, it featured touring Broadway shows.
Last live acts went on stage in the 1960s.
In the 1970s, it was split into three spaces to show three films at once there.
The DaSilva family bought the theater in the early 1980s and it closed in 1995.
In 2008, it reopened as a venue for the Connecticut Film Festival.
The theater is open full time, offering a mix of films and live entertainment.

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DANBURY -- The price of restoring the historic Palace Theater to its former glory could run as high as about $16.5 million. Throw in an addition to the theater's lobby, and the price goes up to $17.8 million.

"That's soup to nuts," said theater owner Joseph DaSilva Jr. on Wednesday as he discussed a comprehensive plan to help guide the theater's renewal.

JCJ Architecture, which has offices in Hartford and New York, prepared the study in conjunction with several consultants.

The report on the 82-year-old Main Street theater estimated the cost of renovating the theater at $16.5 million. That would include bringing its heating, air conditioning and electrical systems up to modern codes; modernizing the stage lighting, sound system and rigging; making the theater comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act standards; and doing the historic restoration work needed to make the theater glow like it did when it opened in 1928.

"It means more bathrooms," said Danbury Planning Director Dennis Elpern. "It means dressing rooms that would have to be completely renovated."

If DaSilva wants to build much-needed administrative space onto the theater's lobby and add room for ice storage, it would add $1.4 million to the price tag.

While the report lists several places where more grant money might be available, Elpern said the city can't depend on the state for funding.

"I understand the state has budget problems,'' Elpern said.

DaSilva said Wednesday that unless someone wants to give him $16.5 million, the renovation work will proceed step by step.

Some of the most important early work may be finished in the near future, including completion of a business plan for the theater.

DaSilva said he's creating a nonprofit group, The Friends of the Palace Theater, that will help manage and promote the theater as well as raise funds for its restoration.

DaSilva said he's also contacting professional theater management companies, in hopes of hiring one to run the theater operation and book acts.

"That's a very important step,'' DaSilva said.

The report points out that the theater, which originally had 2,000 seats, now has 400. During a 1970s attempt to create a multiscreen movie theater, its owners partitioned the orchestra seats into two smaller spaces and created a third space in the mezzanine. Only one of the orchestra spaces is open to the public.

The report envisions a theater with an adaptable space that could have a 400- to 600-seat space for smaller venues, then open up to a larger 1,400- to 1,600-seat space. To do that, DaSilva said, he would have to remove all the partitions.

It also would mean restoring the theater's full 40-foot by 80-foot stage.

But Elpern said the study, which looked at Danbury and the towns that surround it, shows that a multipurpose theater with a mix of live entertainment and films would prosper.

"The report is fairly positive in that regard," Elpern said.

That would bring more people downtown to eat in the city's restaurants and drink in its bars.

"There are people who believe that all you have to do is open the Palace and the downtown will be revived,'' Elpern said. "That isn't true. But the theater is important.''

DaSilva has spent $500,000 of his own money to reopen the theater, which closed in 1995. His work on the theater may be sidelined, however, by the manslaughter charge he faces in the February death of a man trespassing in one of his apartments.

DaSilva has pleaded not guilty to the charge. His attorney, Eugene Riccio, said Wednesday the case is in pretrial stage. DaSilva is scheduled to appear Jan. 21 in state Superior Court in Danbury.

But Wednesday, DaSilva spoke with both focus and enthusiasm about his plans for the Palace. The theater is open full time, showing a mix of live music, dance and movies, as well as being available for speakers, political events and private parties. The theater also is presenting children's movies, and plans to show Indian language films.

"Getting people to come to the theater one time isn't hard," DaSilva said. "But to make them realize they are in a historic theater, to see an event, and to have them leave happy, is a different issue."